MAROON CREEK
Aspen, CO
PROJECT DETAILS
- Design Criteria:
- Provide a design across sensitive wetlands and gold-medal trout waters
- Provide features to aesthetically complement the existing A-frame timber structure
- Fast-track construction schedule
- Owner: Colorado Department of Transportation
- Designer: Parsons
- General Contractor: BTE / Atkinson JV
- Total Project Cost: $14.5 million
- Total Project Size: LENGTH: 620 ft
WIDTH: 73 ft - Year Completed: 2008
In 2008, the Maroon Creek Bridge was opened. This cast-in-place, balanced cantilever, segmental concrete bridge features a single cell, 13-foot-deep, 73-foot-wide box girder section with 120-foot-tall twin piers, a 270-foot main span, and 170-foot back spans.
The bridge, which replaced an existing structure originally constructed in 1888, was built across the sensitive wetlands and gold-medal trout waters of Maroon Creek with minimal impact. It carries an average of 30,000 vehicles per day across Highway 82, the main traffic artery into the resort town of Aspen.
The original bridge was originally constructed as a railroad trestle bridge in 1888. In 1927, the Colorado Midland Railroad Bridge became the property the Colorado Department of Highway and converted for highway use. It was widened in 1963 to 30 feet by adding outrigger struts to the original A-frame trestles. Since then, the timber bridge deck with asphalt has been replaced once and repaired several times.
The design of the replacement project included an aesthetic complement to an existing historic structure, a fast-track schedule in adherence to funding requirements, environmentally sensitive access to areas below the bridge, and extensive public involvement. Epoxy-coated reinforcing bar was used because of its corrosion protection.